Hesitations
by Oneechan94
Summary: My version of the events after the fifth laboratory. Elric brothers fight and got separated just when they would have needed each other the most. No pairings! :) Two-shot!
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic! Please bear with my language mistakes because English is not my native language :D This story will be in two, long chapters :) This fanfics events occur after the fifth laboratory, another version of the events...maybe "a little" ruder than the original :D Hope you like it and I will release the second ( and final ) chapter as soon as possible! ( I think I will release it during this week, maybe even tomorrow if I have the motivation to write this! :D )

_Edward thinking_

...

"This is getting complicated" Barry the Chopper sighed when Maria Ross and Denny Brosh pointed their weapons at him. It seemed like he had no means to escape even though he had been close to finishing Alphonse Elric off. The situation was upside-down. They stared at each other and nobody made a move to solve the situation.

Then the ground started to shake and there was a loud crash when the fifth laboratory started to collapse.

"Ah...!" Alphonse Elric voiced out when he didn't realise what was going on. Everyone tried to keep their balance on the shaky footing. Maria Ross and Denny Brosh, who were ordered to protect Elric brothers, started to back off.

"What are you doing?! Get out of there, quickly!" Maria Ross shouted at the younger Elric.

"But...Nii-san is still inside!" Alphonse realised.

"What did you say?!" Maria Ross panicked.

"Well, you now what this means..." Barry the Chopper started,"...we should escape quickly!" He took his chance to get away but it didn't stay unnoticed for a long time.

"Hey!" Denny Brosh shouted at Barry the Chopper and apparently tried to order him to stop.

"You should run away too!" The former criminal adviced.

"Wait!" Brosh ordered and ran after the criminal who had disobeyed his orders. Sounds of the building collapsing surrounded them everywhere and Maria Ross tried to get at least one of the brothers out of the mess alive.

"Nii-san! Nii-san!" All shouted even though he probably knew his brother could not possibly hear him over all the din.

"Come on! You have to get away!" Maria Ross said when he tried to pull Alphonse Elric further from the building.

"But..." Alphonse hesitated because he didn't want to abandon his brother. Even the slightlest chance of him being alive would be enough for him to push trough the collapsing building.

There was a loud explosion and dust covered the air so that for a few seconds, they could see nothing. Then they saw an unfamiliar character coming out of the dust. Carrying something on his shoulder. First they took a careful look of the strange man with long hair but then they recogniced the person he was carrying.

"I brought you something!" The stranger said cheerfully and landed on his knees to put Edward Elric on the ground.

"Nii-san!" Alphonse worried and didn't hesitate to get closer to the stranger who had brought his brother out of the former laboratory.

"He isn't in a immediate danger of dying but he has lost a volume of blood so take him quickly to the hospital" The stranger adviced while he stood up, "Keep a better care of him so that he won't do anything crazy! He is an important person, after all!"

Alphonse and Maria looked down at unconcious Fullmetal Alchemist,"Who are you?" Alphonse asked but was interrupted when sergeant Brosh rushed to the scene.

"Lieteunant Ross! Hurry up!" He ordered and gasped when he saw Edward.

"Sergeant, help me out!" Maria Ross hurried.

"He is all bloodied!" Brosh slightly panicked and pointed at the older Elric.

"We can talk later!" Maria Ross stated and turned to face the stranger,"You should get out of here...! He is not here...?" She wondered when he couldn't see the saviour of Edward Elric.

Soon after they got outside the barrier surrounding the fifth laboratory, the whole building collapsed with a loud crash.

...

Edward woke up the next day at the hospital. His wounds hadn't been so bad as they had first thought but he still needed some rest before he could continue his "work" as a state alchemist. He was dissapointed to find out that the laboratory had been totally destroyed and cursed before the piercing pain in his stomach forced him to calm down. He also got to accept the preach from lieteunant Ross and sergeant Brosh who were dissapointed at the brothers when they didn't listen to adults and trust their decisions.

Edward also noticed something was bothering Al. Of course he would notice if something was wrong with him since he had known his brother as long as he had lived. There was an odd silence between them whenever it was just the two of them and neither of them spoke much. Ed wanted to ask what was wrong but he could not bring up the courage to do so. He hesitated, he hesitated way too much. They were brothers, for god's sake!

_Maybe it's better not to ask...I might be imagining things...Maybe it's something he doesn't want to talk about...at least not yet..._

"Nii-san?" Alphonse spoke out suddenly and Ed turned to face him.

"What is it?" Ed asked carefully.

"It's..." Alphonse hesitated for a while,"...it's nothing..."

"Al, if you have something to say, please tell me..."

"Really, there is nothing - - " Al tried to reassure his brother but Ed knew him too well.

"Alphonse!" Edward hissed and looked at his younger brother seriously,"You can't hide things from your brother!"

Alphonse gulped - or he would have if he had a body of a normal human, not a suit of armor. He clenched his fist.

"You...you are hiding something from me, aren't you?" Al inquired quietly and didn't meet his brother's eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Ed wondered nervously. He didn't like the tone Alphonse was talking to him.

"You said it...You had something you didn't dare to say to me..." Alphonse noted but he had terribly misunderstood it.

"Look, Al, it's - - " Ed tried to say something wise but Alphonse interrupted him.

"Were you trying to tell me...that I am just a mere - - a mere created soul with fake memories!?" Alphonse blurted out and Ed felt utterly stunned for a while.

"Why would you think that?" Ed asked and tried to stay calm.

"Just answer the question!" Alphonse shouted and Ed stirred.

"Of course you aren't!" Ed tried to reassure Alphonse.

"How can I know you are speaking the truth?! Living in a suit of armor, what am I supposed to believe?!"

Ed looked horrified and couldn't believe they were really having a conversation like this.

"Al, please, just listen to me, I want to - -" Ed tried to speak again but was yet again interrupted.

"Why should I listen to you?! How do you think I - -" Alphonse raged but it was Ed's turn to interrupt him.

"FINE!" Ed hissed and Alphonse fell silent,"If you can't trust me, there is nothing I can do..."

Ed stood up carefully, gritting his teeth when the pain shot trough his stomach but didn't mind it. He just wanted to get out of the room. He felt sick. Sick enough to throw up.

...

Ed finally, after an hour or so, returned back to his room at the hospital and wasn't surprised when he couldn't see Alphonse there. Somehow he felt relieved, somehow he didn't. The way they had separated felt utterly wrong.

"If you are looking for Alphonse, he said that he would visit Rockbells", lieteunant Ross informed.

"I see...thank you for the information..." Ed sighed and layed down.

"I am sorry if I ask something personal but...did you fight?"

Ed blinked before he understood the guestion.

"Well...yeah...sort of...but I think it will be fine..." Ed said hopefully," Al just needs some space to think some things over..."

Maria Ross didn't know what to say so she excused herself.

_I don't know what to do..._

Then he realised he should call Winry because he couldn't move his automail arm. He should have done it sooner because it probably took some time for her to arrive at hospital. Well, he couldn't help it since his mind had been so occupied with Al's sudden change of mood.

Ed took the wheel chair and went to the closest phone. He waited for Winry to pick up.

"Rockbell's automail service,"she picked up with her usual tone.

"Hey, Winry, it's me, Ed," Ed greeted.

"Oh, Ed! It has been so long since your last call!" Winry cheered but got serious all of a sudden,"Did something happen?"

"Wha...Why did you suspect something happened?" Ed asked even though he knew she was right.

"Well, you usually won't call if you don't have anything important to say and you sound somehow...different...are you both idiots fine?"

Ed hesitated for a while because he didn't know what to start with.

"We are both fine...We just got into a fight and Al is coming over to your place..." Ed explained.

"Hold on...You just let him leave like that?!" Winry wondered and sounded somehow angry.

"Well...yeah...I had no other choice!" Ed tried to defend himself but couldn't tell her that he couldn't have possibly traveled at his current state.

"YOU ARE BOTH IDIOTS!" Winry shouted and shut the phone violently.

Ed sighed deeply and closed the phone.

"Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?" Sergeant Brosh asked when he came to help the infamous Fullmetal alchemist to get back to his room.

"Whose girlfriend?!" Ed shouted and reopened his wound.

...

It took some time for Al to travel to Rockbells. He didn't know why he had decided to go there but it seemed like the most normal solution. Well, they had said he and his brother were always welcome there and he didn't hesitate to take their offer in a situation like this. He finally arrived, after few days of travel and lots of waiting for delayed trains.

Meanwhile Colonel Mustang visited Fullmetal Alchemist in his hospital room. Edward was ready to leave from the hospital and get a few days of rest but Colonel had some information for him which could be useful and he didn't want to waste it.

"They say there is someone who knows something about the philosopher's stone in this city", Mustang informed,"It's merely a gossip but it might be worth checking."

Ed thought about it for a second. He had mentally given up on the idea of using philosopher's stone when he and Alphonse had found out the fact they were created of living humans. But he could use some extra knowledge and maybe there would be something useful.

"You might be right...I will check the place immediately!" Ed said and stood up quickly.

"Hold your horses!" Mustang ordered and grinned slightly,"Do you even know where to look for him?"

Edward hissed and admitted his defeat,"Okay okay, I got it! Where can I find this person?"

"Not so fast! You are still on a sick-leave so you should rest and not run around the city!" Mustang noted,"I will come with you. This case catched my interest too...Expecially the person who we might be looking for..."

"Who might we be looking for?" Ed's immediate guestion was but Mustang didn't seem like telling him.

"I can explain the details on our way there..." Mustang promised and they got out of the hospital and went to Mustang's car where his leuteunant Riza Hawkeye was waiting.

"I told you he wouldn't miss the chance!" Mustang stated.

"Oi joi, Colonel, you didn't have a bet of whether I would come or not?"

"Nothing of sort of! I am not as childish as you seem to think of me!" Mustang laughed nervously and gave Riza a look which told her to keep her mouth shut up about their bet. She only sighed deeply and asked them to sit down to their seats so that she could start driving to their destination.

"Okay, so where are we going?" Edward asked when they were talking privately in the car where nobody else could hear them.

"We are going to one company's warehouse. They produce most of the weapons for military so their company is important to us and there are few people from the military to keeping watch." Mustang explained and kept silent for a while.

"...And...? There must be some reason why we are going there?" Ed wondered.

"Sharp as usual, aren't we?" Mustang joked,"Well, the gossips about the philosopher's stone lead to one community of criminals and it seems like they have got some sort of connection's to that company's owner. They might have some nasty side-business for example and I want to check it out as soon as possible."

"Okay but why it has to be just that exact warehouse? If it's a big company there should be many other places to look for?"

"Let's say there are most of the dangerous stuff. Not many people know about it. There are some gunpowder and explosives too." Mustang said,"Of course there is a chance there is nothing at all in there but it could be a good place to start."

Ed fell silent for a while and stared out of the window. He thought about his fight with Alphonse and wondered how he was doing but didn't dare to contact him.

...

"Welcome home!" Pinako Rockbell greeted as usual when Alphonse arrived at their place.

"I am back," Alphonse said and felt somehow ashamed to be there. He didn't even know why. He would have blushed if he had a normal human body.

"How was your journey?" Pinako inquired. She got clearly some work to do but she always had some time to talk with Elric brothers.

"It took a little longer than usual because there were lot of delays in the train schedules", Alphonse informed. He didn't want to admit that he had wished for Ed to be there because the journey had been really boring.

"Well, good that you got here safely...Usually Ed always manages to cause you guys some sort of trouble..." Pinako sighed and Alphonse couldn't help a small chuckle escaping his mouth,"But I have got work to do, you are free to use the guest room as usual..."

"Thank you," Alphonse said and went upstairs. He didn't reach the guest room, however, because Winry hit him with a hammer and pulled him to her room.

"WHAT DO YOU IDIOTS THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" Winry shouted at the bottom of her lungs.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Alphonse shouted back even though he couldn't feel the pain of hammer hitting his head.

Winry stared at Alphonse for a while and sighed deeply.

"Really, you baka Elric-brothers..." Sometimes she felt like a big sister of the brothers,"What did you fight about this time? I hope it wasn't which of you could marry me and you rushed here to propose me?"

Alphonse would have blinked and then he shook his hands.

"No, no, no, nothing of sort of!" Alphonse reassured,"It was just that..." Alphonse couldn't continue his sentence and fell silent.

"Well?" Winry tried to cheer him to continue.

"I...don't know actually..." Alphonse said and sighed.

"Tell me everything...I guess this is not one of your ordinary quarrels, is it?" Winry inquired and Alphonse nodded slightly.

"It..." Alphonse started but didn't actually know where to start from,"We went to one place we shouldn't have went...but there could have been some important information for us so we went even though we were prohibitet. I know what you think!" Alphonse sighed when he saw the look on Winry's face,"There was one guy whose soul was attached to a suit of armour like mine and he...made me doubt myself...whether I really exist...if I am just a created soul with created memories..." He could have gotten angry while explaining if it had been somebody else, but Winry was someone he could not possibly argue with.

Winry was guiet for a while and then she sighed deeply.

"So is it all? Is this why Ed was mad at you?" Winry doubtet that Ed would get angry at Alphonse just because of that.

"I...don't know what made him so mad at me..." Alphonse wondered,"I just wondered if this doubt of mine being a mere created soul was the thing he had wanted to tell me..."

"Hold on!" Winry hissed suddenly,"What thing he wanted to tell you?"

"Ah?" Alphonse wondered the sudden guestion," Well, I don't know...just a while ago he got really serious all of a sudden and it seemed like he wanted to say something to me or ask something from me but I can't say for sure..."

Winry tensed suddenly and she got serious. It seemed like she could start crying any moment.

"Winry...?" Alphonse asked carefully before Winry hit him with her fist.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT HE WANTED TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT?!" Winry shouted angrily. Her fist was twitching with pain but she didn't mind.

"Winry! Your hand is bleeding! What did you think you were - -" Alphonse worried but Winry interrupted him, repeating the guestion.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT HE WANTED TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT?!"

It was clear for Alphonse that she was really angry but he didn't know why.

"What is going on here?" Pinako asked when she came in and wondered the scene she had seen.

...

"Here we are!" Mustang informed when they stopped. They had been driving for what felt like an hour and finally arrived to a big warehouse area which was surrounded by a high barrier.

"...It's not only big company but apparently it's mere warehouse is humangous!" Edward realised.

"Word 'humangous' and ' big' doesn't fit in your vocabulary?" Mustang teased.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AS SMALL AS A BUG?!" Edward shouted.

"He said nothing of sort of..." Riza tried to step in but it was of no use when two childish person's were fighting. Expecially when they were men.

They went to the front gate and introduced themselves to the gate guards who doubted Edward had any business there but they had to believe when he had the silver watch of state alchemist and he was in a company of Colonel Mustang. They got inside the barrier but they didn't notice when the guards nodded at each other and one of them went to make a pohe call.

"Boss, I think we have a problem. Colonel Mustang and Fullmetal Alchemist are sniffing around."

...

Pinako stood there, stunned at the scene in front of her.

"What's going on here?" She repeated the guestion and got a teary look from Winry.

"He...he...doesn't know..." Winry sobbed," He...doesn't know about the thing that...Ed wanted to ask from him...And now he has hurt Ed..."

Pinako couldn't understand so Alphonse got to explain the situation again. After the explanation she sighed deeply and looked at Alphonse seriously.

"You really don't have any idea of what he REALLY wanted to ask you or tell you?" Pinako inquired and Alphonse nodded. She sighed deeply again. Winry was crying and she would only shout at Alphonse so Pinako decided to tell All instead of Winry.

"Listen up!" Pinako ordered strightly and took a deep breath,"When Ed lost his arm and leg when you were trying to bring your mother back and we were operating him, he said something to us. Yes, he was feverish and in a great deal of pain but his thoughts were really genuine", She took another deep breath to calm herself down,"He wanted to know whether you hated him or not due to what he had done to you..."

The realisation hit Alphonse hard. He had been a real idiot! Why had he believed the words of a criminal, words of a madman?! Edward was not the kind of person to lie about these kinds of things!

"I need to get back to the central!" Alphonse said,"I need to get back to the central hospital as soon as possible!"

"Hold your horses!" Pinako said,"Do you know when the next train is going to leave?" Alphonse stopped to think for a while.

"Tomorrow morning, I guess?"

"Then you have to wait. It's no use hurrying things too much." Pinako noted and Alphonse sighed.

"I guess you are right..." Alphonse admitted and turned to face shocked Winry.

"Hold on...Central hospital? You don't mean Ed is injured?!" Winry almost yelled and Alphonse could do nothing else than nod.

...

Colonel Mustang, lieteunant Hawkeye and state alchemist Edward Elric went inside the main warehouse. Just the mere size of it made Edward open and shut his mouth like a fish but they had no time to wonder around it.

They saw that there was stairs leading deep inside the ground and they decided to go down. There was a sign telling "Only certificated people here" but they didn't care about it. The first floor had looked like a normal storage...well, a normal storage were they kept some explosives and guns, that's it.

"What's witht this underground place?" Edward wondered.

"Maybe it has been meant for testing weapons or something?" Riza suggested.

"That could be the case..." Mustang admitted but something, maybe his instinct, told him there was some other reason. They wouldn't hide just a mere test-ground so deep underground.

"You think something is wrong?" Edward asked when Colonel fell silent for a while.

"Maybe...I can't tell why, but it feels like there is more to it...Let's be careful" Mustang adviced and nodded and both of them.

Meanwhile in the upper floor of the warehouse there were few guards who had gotten their assingment from their boss. They had seen the trio finding the passage to the underground space and going inside even thought there had been a warning.

The man at the other side of the line had said the exact words:"Destroy all the evidence even if it would cost us one warehouse and lives of few human but remember it was only an misfortune accident."

...

**Author's note:**

Well? Did I do well? :D I hope to finish this up quickly! :) And I hope I haven't proceeded too fast :) Reviews,favorites,follows, pm to support my work, onegai? :3


	2. Chapter 2

I know this story might be a little short and it might jump from one event to another but I don't want to bore you and myself with some really detailed events :D So this will be the final chapter of this story :D Please review if you liked it! I am not writing fanfics only because I want reviews but I also want to get these ideas out of my head :D I managed to write this really fast and I am somehow proud of myself! :D

_Edward thinking_

...

"What...is this?" Lieteunant Hawkeye wondered when she saw he syntegram on the ground. Colonel Mustang had some sort of idea but he couldn't tell for sure.

"It's..." Ed gasped when he realised this syntegram was some sort of human-syntegram.

"You know what this is?" Colonel asked curiously.

"Well...it looks like syntegram which is made for creating humans..." Ed admitted and there was a quick flashback of his mother.

"It's against the law!" Riza hissed and didn't want to look at the syntegram.

Ed kneeled down to take a better look at the syntegram. It was somehow similar to the one he had created with Al to bring their mother back but there was something else. It was like the parts of the syntegram for bringing some pecific person back to live were completely missing. As if they were creating some random creatures without dna, but was it even possible?

"HEY!" They heard a shout coming from the distant corner of the huge underground hall,"What are you doing there? This place is out limits!"

They turned and saw three guards coming to their direction.

"Sorry, we just got lost!" Mustang tried to sound normal but the creepy smile on his face blew their cover.

"What's the fuss around here...?" They heard a silent guestion coming from the other, distand corner of the hall,"Intruders?"

"Looks like it..." One of the guards hissed," Colonel Mustang, lieteunant Hawkeye and...a kid?" Mustang noticed the change in Edwards attitude towards the men.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A KID?!"

"I am sorry to dissapoint you but this 'kid' is Fullmetal Alchemist" Roy Mustang noted and felt a nasty glare at his back.

"What do you mean? Dissapoint them?" Ed asked angrily.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Mustang tried to defend himself because he didn't want to anger the youngest alchemist, after all. He turned his attention to the one person who had asked about the fuss and saw one man around 50 years old closing in on them.

"If there are intruders...it can only mean one thing!" The man started to panic for some reason and headed towards the stairs. One of the guards seemed to understand something too and rushed after the weird man.

"Hold on!" Another of the remaining guards shouted,"Where do you think you are going?!"

"No time to explain!" The escaping guard said,"You should take your leave too!"

Roy Mustang, Edward Elric and Riza Hawkeye just stood there, stunned, and wondering what was going on. Meanwhile other workers came out of the corner, probably confused about the fuss and some of them, after seeing these "intruders", rushed towards the staircase.

Many of the workers, the two guards and the trio didn't seem to understand what was going on before they heard a huge explosion from above and the ground started to shake.

...

"Hold on...Central hospital? You don't mean Ed is injured?!" Winry almost yelled and Alphonse could do nothing else than nod," Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"I don't know..." Alphonse admitted. Actually he had been rather confused by his own thoughts.

"He called me the day you left and I didn't even listen to him till the end! Did he have some problems with his automail?!" Winry worried and felt pretty pathetic.

"As far as I know, he couldn't move his right arm..." Alphonse stated and Winry remembered the one screw she had forgotted to add to his new automail.

"I feel horrible..." Winry admitted and sighed. She was frusfrated with herself.

"Don't blame yourself, it was Nii-san's fault because he didn't follow your orders and ended up in a stupid fight..." Alphonse tried to reassure Winry.

"Hold on, what fight?!" Winry catched the important part again and Alphonse sighed deeply. This conversation was not going well and his brother would porobably get a pretty bad preach when he would see Winry the next time.

...

Mustang regained his conciousness when Riza shoke his shoulders slightly.

"Are you alright?" Lieteunant Hawkeye worried,"You were unconcious for a while..."

"It seems like I am in one piece..." Mustang sighed and sat up carefully. He didn't seem to have any serious injuries, just some cuts and bruises,"What happened?"

"You can't tell by looking around you?" Hawkeye teased,"There was a explosion in the first floor and it affected also the lower floors. It looks like we are stuck here until the rescue team arrives.

Roy sighed deeply and stood up slowly to look around. It seemed like that floor was pretty well made since it had survived trough the explosion without collapsing but they should still be careful.

"What happened to Edward-kun?" Riza asked.

"How should I know?" Mustang wondered but then he realised he was holding Edwards automail-hand in his hand. It was just the automail, not the small Alchemist himself. He remembered the explosion and seeing the floor beneath them giving up over the weight of some heavy metal pilars. Mustangs footing had felt secure at the moment but he saw how the floor beneath Fullmetal Alchemist started to collapse so he had reached out his hand to grab the younger alchemist who had quickly grabbed the offered hand with his right hand. But then the hand had been crushed by some big metal pilar and Ed had fell down with all the junk.

"No way..." Mustang hissed when he realised what had happened,"Edward fell down with all the junk which was falling down!"

"What?!" Riza almost shouted and looked down at the huge hole,"We have to go down to look for him!"

Mustang only nodded and didn't even notice that he let his subordinate order him around. They looked around to find some way to get down safely and they saw some of the workers and those two guards standing in the corner. It looked like most of them had survived without any fatal injuries.

"Hey!" Mustang shouted,"Is there any other way down there than through this hole?"

The people in the corner looked at the Colonel in disbelief. They had survived this mess and he wanted to go further down?!

"There is an emergency exit at the right side of you. It should be safe but I can't say the same about the lowest floor!" One of the guards informed when he regained his senses.

"Thank you!" Riza said and nodded at the Colonel when they headed towards the emergency exit.

The emergency exit seemed to be fine so they climbed down slowly so that they wouldn't cause any further damage to the already destroyed building. They didn't want to cause any further damage to the building and trigger the final destruction.

The lowest floor was pretty destroyed. There were fallen parts everywhere and it was a total mess. The air was thick with dust and they couldn't see much in front of them.

"Fullmetal!" Mustang shouted,"Are you here?" He doubted the boy was in condition for an answer but they shouldn't wander around aimlessly. There was a moment of silence before they heard a small cough coming not so far from where they were.

"I am...here!" They heard a pained hiss and headed towards the voice.

Soon they found Ed, lying on the floor and catching his breath.

"Edward!" Riza worried and kneeled next to the boy,"Are you okay?!"

Ed just chuckled slightly like a madman would do.

"This is...utterly stupid!" Edward joked,"fate has to play tricks with me!"

"What are you - - " Mustang tried to ask about what he was talking about but then he realised what the younger alchemist was talking about: his left hand was stuck underneath one heavy-looking metal pilar and there was a pool of blood beneath the boy,"Fullmetal!"

"We have to move this pilar or his hand will be crushed!" Riza noted and Mustang nodded but Edward stopped them.

"DON'T!" Edward ordered,"This pilar is the only thing supporting these lowest floors from collapsing. If you try to destroy it or move it, it will probably trigger these floors destruction!"

"Then what if we move some other material to support these floors and then destroy this pilar?" Mustang suggested but Edward shoke his head.

"Look at the condition of this place!" Edward said,"We can't know which material is strong enough to replace one of the main pilars! And we don't now which walls are strong enough not to collapse after there is some material removed!"

Mustang stared down at the young alchemist and realised they could do nothing at the moment.

"Then...what should we do...?"

...

The information about the explosion started to spread the next day. The warehouse and it's surroundings were badly destroyed and the closest place were the two guards at the front gate could have called for help was far away from the storage.

Military was informed quickly and they started to think for their move. The warehouse had been destroyed and they didn't believe there would be any survivors after such a massive explosion. They seemed to doubt whether endanger their own men to find the few survivors. They were also informed that Colonel Mustang, lieteunant Hawkeye and Fullmetal Alchemist had probably been there when the explosion had occured but it didn't seem to chance their opinion.

Of course few military people volunteered to help. Among them was for example major Armstrong, Maes Hughes, Jean Havoc and Vato Falman, who felt like their friends couldn't be dead. Of course they were forhibitet to enter the explosion area at such an early state to look for their friends.

...

Alphonse Elric, Winry Rockbell and Pinako Rockbell sat at the table, eating breakfast together before Al would leave to the Central with Winry who desperately wanted to fix Ed's automail-arm. They were chatting calmly and even smiling before they heard about the accident at the warehouse from the radio:

"- - has been an explosion at their warehouse and all the workers and guards inside are probably dead. The whole scene is disaster and the explosion was powerful enough to destroy the barrier around the storage. Military has informed that they are not going to make any move, at least not yet, to safe the unlikely survivors even though three of their own workers, Colonel Mustang, Lieteunant Hawkeye and Fullmetal Alchemist were probably inside the main warehouse. We are waiting for further information and we have failed to contact the warehouse's owner - - "

They picked up the really familiar name of Fullmetal Alchemist and they stared at each other in shock.

"What...?" Winry blinked, confused about the sudden information. None of them spoke for a while.

Then Alphonse stood up: "I am going to the central and look for Nii-san!"

"You shouldn't!" Pinako adviced,"The military is doing their best to find them!"

"But you heard it yourself! They have done nothing to look for them!" Alphonse hissed.

Winry stood up too,"I want to go too!"

"Winry!" Pinako said, apparently trying to stop her.

"If Ed is alive, he probably needs me to fix his automails." Winry noted,smiling hopefully, and wiped a tear which had escaped from the corner of her eye. Alphonse nodded at her and after finishing up breakfast they headed towards the train station.

...

The lowest floors of the collapsed building sounded calm. There were no sounds of further destruction and the time stood still. There was only the sound of Colonel Mustang cratching his head and the sound of Edward trying to breath calmly.

"It's really frustfrating but I don't know what to do!" Mustang admitted, annoyed at himself. Riza looked at him but said nothing.

Edward just laid there, his left hand stuck under a massive pilar and tried to think of solution for the situation. He knew they should try to get to the upper floor and not stay down there but he doubted if that bastard Mustang and his lieteunant would leave him there.

"Don't even think of it! We are not leaving you here!" Mustang hissed. He was rather surprised the small alchemist was so calm in a situation like this.

"Oh? Reading my mind?" Edward joked. But he was still thinking hard, trying to solve the problem. Of course he found a solution, the clever alchemist he was.

"Hey, Mustang?" Edward almost whispered to get the Flame Alchemist's attention.

"What is it?" Mustang asked carefully.

"Can you see that...sharp piece of metal over there?" Edward inquired.

"Yeah...what about it?" Mustang asked even though he had a bad feeling about it.

"Could you...use it to...cut my left arm?" Edward suggested even though he knew how insane it was. But if they weren't leaving without him, he had to get rid of his arm in order to get away.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" Mustang hissed and looked at Ed's face, hoping to see even a hint of joke. There wasn't,"Fullmetal..."

"Look, Colonel, I know what's the prize I will pay for this decision but I also know it's the only way to get out of here. I don't want some military people endangering their lives in order to destroy or move this pilar and I don't want you to endanger yours while waiting for help here. The upper floor is more secure than this, we should move there and not stay here!"

Mustang wanted to argue about it but he realised it was the only way to get out of the situation. It was better than leaving Ed alone.

"Shall I do it for you?" Hawkeye suggested because she doubted her superior. Mustang just nodded and Riza went to pick up the piece of metal. Then she kneeled next to Edward and asked: "Are you really sure about this?" And after a slight nod from Ed, she raised the metal and prepared to cut Ed's arm.

...

"Do you think that Ed is okay?" Winry asked suddenly, when they had sat in the train for a while, silence between them. Even Alphonse hesitated for a while but then he felt like he had to trust his brother.

"Of course he is! There is no change Nii-san would die like this!"

...

Finally the military made their move to safe the doubted survivors when King Bradley himself gave an order. He didn't want to loose good people just because some of them were scared to endanger their own lives.

"Listen up! If some of you hesitates to join the rescue team, then leave! We don't need someone who is not ready to put his life on the line for others, is that clear?!" King Bradley ordered and few people even dared to leave the line.

Meawhile further down at the lower floors of the warehouse, all the survivors had gathered to the assumed "most secure" corner of the destroyed building. Mustang had sacrificed his white shirt to use it as a bandage for Ed's wounds. Well, he didn't want to destroy the military uniform: white shirts were sold everywhere while military uniforms paid a lot if you destroyed them.

Ed had managed to stay concious. He didn't know what to think when he had no arms at all at the moment when his automail had broken and his left arm had been cut off. It felt pretty stupid, actually.

_Sorry, Alphonse. It looks like our dream is even further away..._

Finally the rescue-team arrived to the lower floors. They were really surprised to find about half of the people alive who had been at the scene during the explosion. They weren't prepare to move so many people so it took more time for them to get everyone out of the ruins. They would have moved Edward first because he was badly wounded and important state alchemist but Edward had insisted that they move one of the other survivors first, whose wounds were almost as severe as his. He said that he was used to the pain: at least more than the other one, who was cursing and yelling all the time.

Mustang and Riza had only minor wounds, not even worth mentioning, so they helped the rescuers to move the survivors. When they got out of the warehouse's ruins, Mustang insisted to go to the hospital with Ed because his brother was not there and he needed someone worth his trust to be there. He ordered Riza to stay at the scene, however, to help how she could and then come to the hospital with someone since Mustang's car had been destroyed by the explosion.

...

It took some time for Winry and All to arrive to the central. When they arrived, the news about Ed's survival had reached them already and they felt relieved. When they stepped to the central trainstation, Lieteunant Hawkeye was there to drive them to the hospital.

"Colonel Mustang wanted to see you two," Riza informed.

"But- - " Alphonse tried to say something but Riza read his mind.

"I know you are worried about Edward-kun but you have to meet Colonel first."

The journey to the hospital was quiet. At some point Al wondered why they were going to the hospital if they had to meet Colonel first and Riza answered as shortly as possible: "He got injured." She clearly didn't feel like talkin so they kept silent. They didn't dare to ask about Edward because they wanted to see him by themselves but maybe they should have asked to prepare themselves mentally.

Colonel Mustang sat at his hospital bed and stared out of the window, serious look on his face.

"Colonel, I have brough Alphonse Elric and Winry Rockbell." Riza informed professionally and Mustang turned to face them.

"Finally here", he sighed,"I really wanted to meet you before gosspis about Fullmetal start to spread."

"What gossips?" Alphonse asked carefully.

"It's not important at the moment, you will see it for yourself soon enough", Mustang said,"Winry Rockbell, I need your help."

Winry looked surprised at first and didn't know a suitable answer,"What is it you need my help with? Tell it quickly because I want to see Ed as soon as possible."

"So you are the one who has made the automails Fullmetal is using?" Mustang asked to make sure he had understood right. This young lady was an automail-mechanic?

"That's right. What about it?"

"I need you to make automails immediately." Mustang reported and Winry looked stunned.

"Do you have any idea of my work-schedule? Besides, I think I have lots to do with Ed's automails already...that's why I came here..."

"Then we have an agreement I guess?" Mustang inquired but Winry didn't understand his point.

"What are you - - ?" She tried to ask before lieteunant Hawkeye knocked the door.

"Excuse me Colonel, but Edward-kun is here to see you," Hawkeye informed.

"Just in time. Bring him in," Mustang ordered.

One of the nurses pushed Edward Elric inside in his wheel chair, left him there and closed the door. First Edward didn't realise Winry and Al standing in the corner of his right-side so he just spoke to Mustang.

"What is it? You got some business with me?"

"Well, yeah..."Mustang sighed and pointed at the corner where Alphonse and Winry stood. Edward turned his head slowly and almost dropped from his wheel chair when he realised who he was looking at.

"What are you doing here?!" Edward asked even though he probably knew the answer.

"Are you an idiot?!" Winry wondered,"We came here when we heard the knews about the accident! And you, why didn't you tell me your automail didn't work?!"

"You didn't give me the chance!" Ed tried to defend himself. He looked at Mustang,"Why did I have to come here now?!"

"You mean just before the operation?" Mustang inquired and Ed fell silent. Apparently Winry and Al hadn't noticed he was missing both of his arms,"I thought that you should settle things with them. I know you are not weak but you need them, expecially now."

Edward was about to say something but he didn't.

"Nii-san", Alphonse spoke up finally,"I...I am sorry about what I said..."

"It's okay..." Edward reassured but didn't dare to look at Alphonse. Winry saw the situation was a little awkward so she broke the silence.

"Well, anyways, I need to fix your automail! Were is it?"

Ed didn't answer so Mustang opened his mouth.

"His right hand automail got totally destroyed. But now he needs - -" Mustang was about to tell them that Ed needed an automail for his left hand too but Winry interrupted him.

" - - It's not there...It's not there!" Winry gasped when she realised Ed was missing his left arm too. Firstly Alphonse didn't understood what wasn't there but then he saw what Winry was glaring at.

"Nii-san...!" Alphonse wasn't sure what to say so there was a silence before Colonel Mustang spoke up.

"As you can see, you have to prepare him an automail for his left hand too. He is going to have the operation after an hour so you can talk more after that," Mustang said as if Winry wouldn't realise it otherwise.

Winry kneeled next to Edward and took a look at the stub where Ed's left hand used to be," Ed...What happened?"

Edward didn't know what to say,"It was just a pure twist of fate...It got crushed under a metal pilar which couldn't be moved from the spot so the only option was to cut my arm..." Edward hesitated for a while,"It's...nothing..."

"HOW DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOTHING?!" Winry preached and raised her hand to slap Edward but the hand never hit him. Instead she hugged him and tears fell down her cheeks,"I am sorry..."

...

Colonel Mustang got out of the hospital the next day and started to gather evidence about the crimes that had happened in the warehouse. Many of the survivors, both of the guards and few workers spoke out lots of information which could be used as a proof. Then there was also the case of the two guards at the front gate: why had they survived without a scratch if even Mustang's car, which had been further away, got almost completely destroyed by the explosion? It seemed like they knew about the explosion in advance but neither of them told anything for a while. Of course there was also the case of the "guestlist": how had just that piece of paper survived the explosion, just that piece of paper had been taken by the other guard to safe? The guestion about the lower floors also remained: those floors hadn't been reported officially. Why had they hid these floors below the ground?

Ed survived the operation for the new automail but surgeons wondered how he managed not to scream and shout during the operation. Winry prepared him a new pair of arms so that he could move around freely again. Without his hands, even if they both were automails, he could not possibly use alchemy. He seemed to be strangely fine with three automails but maybe it wasn't so hard accepting yet one when he already got too. Training his new automail would be hard but he had decided to survive and find a way to return their bodies back to normal: one arm wasn't much more than one arm, one leg and one whole body.

...

**Author's note:**

Well? :D I am pretty happy about this! I wanted to write fanfics based on many different series and Fullmetal Alchemist was one I definitely wanted to write about! Let's see if I write more in the future :)


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